New Penn St. Nittany Lions head coach Bill O'Brien is making quick work of his first staff, announcing early on that he'll be keeping defensive line coach and ace recruiter Larry Johnson, Sr. In addition, he'll retain current PSU linebackers coach Ron Vanderlinden and strength coach John Thomas.
Penn State Coaching: Ted Roof, Ralph Friedgen Rumors Abound As Staff Fills Up
As far as coordinators go, O'Brien himself has mentioned the name of new Central Florida Knights defensive coordinator Ted Roof (" ... one of my closest friends ... "), while former Maryland Terrapins head coach Ralph Friedgen has come up as the leading offensive coordinator rumor. There's nothing solid to go on there, but that's the chatter.
Keeping three Nittany Lions coaches should help somewhat soothe concerns that the new regime wouldn’t be Penn State enough. While most fans would’ve preferred to see defensive coordinator Tom Bradley stick around, there are at least a few critical links remaining on Penn State’s best side of the ball.
The first new guy: Tennessee Titans quality control assistant Charles London, who’ll take over as running backs coach. Black Shoe Diaries wouldn’t mind if he could expand PSU’s recruiting turf a little bit:
Coach London is from the Georgia area, played college ball at Duke (including time on the Duke track team as a sprinter), and will hopefully bring some southern connections to Penn State.
Related: Jerry Sandusky fallout, replacing Joe Paterno, and Penn State’s movement to support sexual abuse survivors. For more on the Nittany Lions, visit Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries. More college football news.
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